Best Screenwriting Tips, Writer's Help & Advice
Find expert screenwriting advice articles, industry leading interviews with writers, expert writing advice, screenwriting tips and answers to commonly raised questions from screenwriters, scriptwriters, filmmakers, and writers of all types. A little insider screenwriting help can go a long way toward improving the writing craft and working with screenwriting software.
How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing Example & Screenwriting Tips
It's easy to feel intimidated by the thought of writing a screenplay. The rules! The formatting! The binding! Don't let the seemingly endless parade of screenwriting elements scare you away from writing your first script. Since a familiarity with ...
Read more... | Published: 03/09/10 | by Mario O. Moreno and Kay Tuxford
How to Write a Query Letter the Right Way
A great query letter is your key to unlocking an executive's door. Take your time and be as thoughtful about your query as you were when writing your screenplay. Industry professionals view query letters as a reflection of the writer's screenplay ...
Read more... | Published: 08/04/08 | by Susan Kouguell
How to Sell a Screenplay with These 10, Must-Use Story Techniques
The key question that all screenwriters should ask themselves is: how do I write a script that Hollywood wants to buy? Most writers mistakenly think that success is all about connections and star power. Not so. The real trick to writing a script t...
Read more... | Published: 10/28/09 | by John Truby
The Top 10 Reasons to Write a Spec Pilot
Whether you're an established film/ TV writer or an aspiring one, you've heard it - everybody in town has said it - you should write a spec pilot. Didn't used to be that way. Up until about five years ago, it was considered crazy or just plain clu...
Read more... | Published: 01/04/10 | by Ellen Sandler
Character Emotion Makes the Plot
Some writers excel at pithy banter. Others create dramatic action. The writers I most admire are the ones who in their own natural style convey a character's emotional personality in scene through active, non-verbal communication with just the rig...
Read more... | Published: 02/01/10 | by Martha Alderson, M.A.
Tales From the Script: 5 Things I Learned Interviewing Screenwriters
Sitting down for intimate conversations with dozens of Hollywood's best writers was a transformative experience. Although I've been a professional screenwriter for many years, most of my work has been in the independent realm, so collecting materi...
Read more... | Published: 03/01/10 | by Peter Hanson
Write your Screenplay in 10 Minutes a Day
I know you’re busy. Trust me, I’m with you. You’ve got work, school, kids, you name it. Family counts on you, friends need you – someone’s probably e-mailing, texting or instant messaging you right now! So how in the heck are you going to find ti...
Read more... | Published: 08/03/10 | by Pilar Alessandra
Don’t Break the Chain - Jerry Seinfeld's Method for Creative Success
When it comes to making New Year's resolutions, we writers aren't exactly the norm. Most people resolve to lose weight, dreaming of the day they can hold up their "fat jeans," as if in a weight-loss commercial. We want to hold up a few freshly p...
Read more... | Published: 01/01/14 | by The Writers Store
5 Keys to Writing a Summer Blockbuster
It used to be that summer was the season for blockbuster movies. Now it’s a year-round phenomenon. Hollywood is in the business of selling films to a worldwide audience, which means they are always looking for a script with blockbuster potential. ...
Read more... | Published: 06/13/11 | by John Truby
Great Movies and Why They Work
You don't need to go to film school to recognize the key elements of great movies. These same elements are present time and time again in the great movies, and they are worth highlighting: These movies tend to have strong single line - with one...
Read more... | Published: 05/15/15 | by John Truby
2017 For Your Consideration Screenplays
2017 Oscar Nominated Screenplays – Free Download Ask any professional screenwriter how to become a better writer and they will say “read screenplays.” Reading produced screenplays not only provides a clear example of how to navigate challe...
Read more... | Published: 02/16/17
Screenwriting Contest Panel
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Read more... | Published: 03/17/17
WriterDuet Getting Started
Hello, Thank you for purchasing WriterDuet Pro from the Writers Store! To create your account and start writing, copy and paste the URL presented in red on your order confirmation page in a browser. Example link: “https://writerduet.com/on...
Read more... | Published: 02/17/17
Final Draft 9 News & Release Date
Final Draft 9 Updates Final Draft 9 released on January 6 with a new look and feel, plus a myriad of new features! All of your favorite Final Draft features are still there, and your writing will benefit from some colorful new additions. If you'r...
Read more... | Published: 10/23/13
For Writers: The Importance of Being a Multi-Hyphenate
George Clooney, Ben Stiller, Jon Favreau; just a few of Hollywood’s actor-writer-director multi-hyphenates whose careers offer the lesson that to prosper in show business, not to mention fully express your creative vision, it helps to be a “triple...
Read more... | Published: 03/19/12 | by Jonathan Leigh Solomon
The Types of Monster Movies
The Monster story is one of the favorite types of Myth Archetype: the main character goes through an Outer Story, and that Outer Story symbolizes an Inner Story of emotional change. Monster stories have been popular for centuries. Initially...
Read more... | Published: 01/10/12 | by Sandy Frank
6 Film Distribution Myths You Need to Know
One of the major Achilles’ heels for film producers and directors is the distribution game. Once you’ve made your movie, what do you do? How do you play the game? What strategies do you employ? Is there even a strategy? Well, there’s good news an...
Read more... | Published: 01/10/12 | by Jerome Courshon
Now Write! Mysteries Excerpt: Planting a Seed
Reading a great mystery novel is a lot like horseback riding. Sometimes, you’re cautiously slow-walking on unfamiliar turf. Other times, you’re head-bobbling-wobbling trotting. Then there are those times when you’re whooshing along on a take-your-...
Read more... | Published: 12/19/11 | by Gerard Bianco
The Internal Drive of the Story
Understanding the internal side of your story conveys to your audience the depth that is felt emotionally and spiritually. Two authors, Jennifer Grisanti and Kim Hudson, offer insight into how to write the internal story into your screenplays and...
Read more... | Published: 12/06/11 | by Jen Grisanti and Kim Hudson
Why It's Great to be a Storyteller
Let’s just say it ain’t for the faint of heart. Storytellers work exhausting days, ever searching for that gem of an idea or character or plot. Never settling for the almost-right word. Spitballing, outlining, writing, rewriting, rewriting. And...
Read more... | Published: 12/06/11 | by Eric Edson
On the 10th Anniversary Edition of "The 101 Habits of Successful Screenwriters"
Ten years ago, I wrote a little book called The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters and it literally changed my life. When I set out to write it, I just wanted to learn from successful writers. I wanted to pick their brains and mod...
Read more... | Published: 11/22/11 | by Karl Iglesias
What is a Film Treatment, and Why Do I Need One?
If you’ve ever asked those questions, you aren’t alone. In the world of synopses, one-pagers, beat sheets, outlines and drafts, treatments can get lost in the shuffle. Writers often forego the treatment process altogether – which is a huge mista...
Read more... | Published: 11/20/11 | by Micki Grover
"Toy Story 3" Save the Cat! Beat Sheet
The 15 beats to the Disney Pixar hit are provided by Master Cat! Ben Frahm. Printed with the Permission of Blake Snyder Enterprises, LLC. Opening Image (1) We’re reintroduced to all of our favorite characters, Woody, Buzz, and friends, in an...
Read more... | Published: 11/01/11 | by Save the Cat! Press
Something Startling Happens (The Missing Chapter)
When The Writers Store asked me to write a "missing chapter" for my book, I immediately knew what I wanted to cover! You see, in Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs To Know , I focus on the minute-by-minute bea...
Read more... | Published: 11/01/11 | by Todd Klick
Interview with John Truby
Question: What’s the best advice you can give writers to help them develop their own unique voice and style? John Truby: Voice and style are among the most misunderstood of all elements in storytelling. Voice and style aren’t simply a unique w...
Read more... | Published: 10/17/11 | by John Truby
Sure. Fired!
Aspiring comedy writers spend years grinding away as P.A.s, pounding out spec script after spec script and dreaming of TV’s holy grail: a staff writing job. Then finally, they get the job! On staff of a prime time TV show. And something happens...
Read more... | Published: 10/17/11 | by Ellen Sandler
I Wrote, I Worried, I Pitched
You’ve been practicing your pitch for weeks: You’ve established a unique protagonist, given him a something he wants with a passion and even better, you’ve created a compelling antagonist. You’ve practiced making eye contact. You know this story b...
Read more... | Published: 10/04/11 | by Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis
The Real Objective
Screenwriters do not write movies. Screenwriters write scripts. And scripts are not movies. Movie audiences are people sitting in a theater, or at home, having a visual experience complete with actors, music, directing, editing and perhaps di...
Read more... | Published: 09/21/11 | by Corey Mandell
Excerpt from "Hire Me Hollywood!" - David Janollari, Head of Programming - MTV
David Janollari Head of Programming, MTV David Janollari grew up in Rhode Island. He was a popular guy who had a lot of friends. He went to Boston College for two years then transferred to NYU film school. He turned his sights on Hollywood, and...
Read more... | Published: 09/22/11 | by Keith Fenimore and Mark Scherzer
What's More Important: Character or Story?
Doesn’t it seem as if a new screenwriting book is published every twenty minutes? I bear no small portion of the blame, as my third such tome burdened bookstore shelves just last year. What’s left for me now to write except a book about writing ...
Read more... | Published: 09/06/11 | by Richard Walter
A Missing Trick from The Bag of Tricks: How Writers Can Meet Their Characters Before They Write Them
My recently released book, The Film Director’s Bag of Tricks: How to Get What You Want from Writers and Actors , was obviously designed for directors. But this book is only one leg of the triangle. How about: Actors getting what they need from ...
Read more... | Published: 09/06/11 | by Mark Travis
They Shoot Screenwriters, Don't They?
How many screenplays do you have to write before you throw in the towel and delete your screenwriting program from your computer? 17? 12? 3? It depends on how seriously you take your screenwriting career--even if you don’t technically have a care...
Read more... | Published: 08/16/11 | by D.B. Gilles
Future of Story Interview Series: Michael Weise
Michael Wiese is a producer, director, author, and publisher. After producing the highly popular “Hardware Wars” (a Star Wars parody), Michael was an entertainment executive with Showtime and later Vice President of Vestron Video where he launche...
Read more... | Published: 08/02/11 | by Ann Baldwin and Michael Wiese
Future of Story Interview Series: D.B. Gilles
D.B. Gilles has taught comedy writing in The Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for nearly 20 years. He also taught comedy in The Dramatic Writing Department at NYU, the Graduate Fi...
Read more... | Published: 08/02/11 | by Ann Baldwin and D.B. Gilles
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